Reagent-less whole-blood glucose meter

Abstract

A reagentless whole-blood analyte detection system that is capable of being deployed near a patient has a source capable of emitting a beam of radiation that includes a spectral band. The whole-blood system also has a detector in an optical path of the beam. The whole-blood system also has a housing that is configured to house the source and the detector. The whole-blood system also has a sample element that is situated in the optical path of the beam. The sample element has a sample cell and a sample cell wall that does not eliminate transmittance of the beam of radiation in the spectral band.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10 / 055,875, filed Jan. 21, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,958,809, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60 / 340,794, filed Dec. 11, 2001, and of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60 / 346,383, filed Nov. 8, 2001, all of which are incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]This invention relates generally to determining analyte concentrations in material samples.[0004]2. Description of the Related Art[0005]Millions of diabetics draw samples of bodily fluid such as blood on a daily basis to monitor the level of glucose in their bloodstream. This practice is called self-monitoring, and is commonly performed using one of a number of reagent-based glucose monitors. These monitors measure glucose concentration by observing some aspect of a chemical reaction between a reagent and the glucose in t...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0010]In one embodiment, the present invention is a reagentless whole-blood analyte detection system that is capable of being deployed near a patient. The whole-blood system has a source capable of emitting a beam of radiation comprising a spectral band and a detector in an optical path of the beam. The whole-blood system also has a housing that is configured to house the source and the detector. The whole-blood system also has a sample element that is situated in the optical path of the beam. The sample element has a sample cell and a sample cell wall that does not eliminate transmittance of the beam of radiation in the spectral band.

Problems solved by technology

Reagent-based monitors and test strips suffer from a variety of problems and also have limited performance.

Problems and costs relating to reagents arise during manufacture, shipment, storage, and use of the reagent-containing test strips.

Naturally, this requirement leads to errors in reading and entering the calibration code, which can cause the monitor to make dangerously inaccurate readings of glucose concentration.

Premature hydration affects the manner in which the reagent reacts with glucose and can cause erroneous readings.

Unfortunately, the multitude of users are often unable to follow these protocols.

When test-strips and their reagents are not properly handled and stored, erroneous monitor readings can occur.

Even when all necessary process, packaging, and storage controls are followed, the reagents on the strips still degrade with time, and thus the strips have a limited shelf-life.

All these factors have led consumers to view reagent-based monitors and test strips as expensive and troublesome.

Indeed, reagent-based test strips would be even more expensive if they were designed to be made simpler and completely fail-safe.

The performance of reagent-based glucose monitors is limited in a number of respects related to reagents.

As discussed above, the accuracy of such monitors is limited by sensitive nature of the reagent, and thus any breakdown in the strict protocols relating to manufacture, packaging, storage, and use reduces the accuracy of the monitor.

Accordingly, the time for measuring the glucose concentration in the sample is limited as well.

This is undesirable, because it doubles or triples the numbers of painful fluid removals.

At the same time, reagent-based monitor performance is limited in that the reaction rate limits the speed with which an individual measurement can be obtained.

The reaction time is regarded as too long by most users.

Images